Luke A. Hase

I began my theological studies with a BA (Hons) in Theology at Heythrop College, University of London, where, graduating with high First Class Honours, I was awarded the Marcus Ward Prize for Excellence in New Testament Studies. I then came to Cambridge to undertake an M.Phil in New Testament and Early Christianity, under the supervision of Professor Judith M. Lieu, for which I received the Isaac Newton Boak Award, and passed with Distinction.

In my doctoral thesis, I am exploring the concept of myth—as a socio-anthropological concept—and its (largely overlooked) relevance for understanding the literary and intellectual activity of Paul in his New Testament epistolary legacy. The project divides into three main sections. The first traces the historical reception of the concept of 'myth', both when appealed to and rejected, in Pauline studies since the dawn of the scientific method, with particular attention being paid to how (and why) the category has previously been engaged, and to what extent engagement with the concept has been critically informed. With this bleak history found wanting, I conclude the Forschungbericht by drawing attention to a few theoretically nuanced contributions to the discussion in recent decades, before proceeding to the second section, which seeks to engage more fully than has hitherto been done in Pauline studies with myth-theory outside of NT studies—from Ancient Greek perspectives through the Early Modern Period to contemporary disciplinary theoretical approaches—with a view to 'rethinking' myth as an analytically helpful socio-anthropological field in Pauline research. The third section then endeavours to apply this informed cross-disciplinary perspective on myth to the interpretation of pertinent material in the undisputed Pauline epistles. I am particularly interested in the foundational and paradigmatic quality theorists have attributed to mythic narratives, as formative, 'lived' realities, in conjunction with Paul's understanding of himself and the communities to which he writes as those who in some way participate in and embody the death and resurrection of Jesus.